


Bloom

by Frangipanidownunder



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, five headcanon au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-11-01 08:40:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20812247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frangipanidownunder/pseuds/Frangipanidownunder
Summary: Coffee Shop AU





	Bloom

1

The shop has been undergoing renovations for some time and there’s a poster in the window declaring the opening date for the weekend. The windows are papered so he can’t see in but the fascia is a series of vertical wooden strips and over the door, the same timber strips broken by large brass handles, there’s a sign that reads ‘Bloom’. At least it’s not another coffee shop, Mulder thinks. He heads over the road, to Bean, and orders a macchiato.

2

She’s been there all night, posing stems of dahlia ‘Arabian Night’ into flask beakers and rearranging the tiny white pebbles around her miniature succulent displays that sit inside bell jars of various sizes on the mantels around the sides of the shop. On the walls, she wipes the glass of timber-framed prints displaying dramatic water splashes, the silvery swirl of the milky way on a midnight background, super close-ups of the fuzzy copper anthers of daylilies.

“Just unlock it, Danes,” Missy says, rubbing her hands down her apron. She starts lighting the candles set into white porcelain crucibles. Candles she’s made herself, soy wax, infused with floral oils.

Steam hisses from behind the counter. Dana checks her reflection in the surface of the refrigerator, tucks her hair behind her ears and pulls open the door.

3

Walt is standing, hands on hips, in front of the door of Bean. Mulder is next to him, looking across at Bloom. Where there are no buckets of flowers on the sidewalk, but he does spot a pair of young women, both redheads, just inside.

“I thought it was a florist,” he says and follows Walt back inside.

“These girls are going to put me out of business and do they care? I have spent my entire life working with coffee. What do they know? Nothing! One of them, she makes candles and tells fortunes. The other, she is a doctor. Why have they opened this shop?” The old man slams his hands on the counter. Sprinkles of brown sugar fly out. “Espresso?”

Mulder’s suddenly not in the mood. Well, not for Walt’s bitterness. “I thought you were going to retire, anyway? Maybe this is a sign, Walt?”

“Mulder, you want to believe that this is some kind of omen, knock yourself out. Me? I think it’s a conspiracy.”

4

Missy walks behind the counter and jabs her sister. “He’s coming in.” Dana raises an eyebrow at her sister, but regains her composure as Mr GQ comes in. He looks at the menu, tapping his finger to his lips. His very plump lips. He’s wearing gold-rimmed glasses that sit on his broad nose, hiding the exact colour of his eyes. His hair flops over his forehead. He scratches at his jaw, fine and sharp.

“Do you prefer to eat in or eat out?” Missy asks. Dana takes a sharp breath in, swinging round to concentrate on the pumping the lever on the machine.

Mr GQ chuckles and takes a seat. Dana chances a look over. He’s studying a print of the Aurora borealis.

“You should take his order,” Missy growls. “Like, now, Dana.”

She walks over to him and he smiles up at her. Wide, toothy, meltingly disarming. She feels her stomach ripple. “Have you decided?”

“There’s a lot to take in.” He holds up the menu and reads. “The magnesium in hard water sticks to eugenol, a chemical found in coffee. Our research has led us to believe that it’s not just the bean that flavours the coffee, but the water. At Bloom we offer the best of the best.” Removing his glasses, she sees his eyes are green. Then they darken as he speaks. “What’s your recommendation, Doctor…?”

Her heart thumps. How does he know that? His eyes flick past her, to the door. Ah, Walt. Of course. “Scully,” she replies. “Depends how strong you like things, Mr….?”

“Mulder,” he says, “Just Mulder. I like most things strong.”

5

He alternates his time between Bean and Bloom. Each offers a different experience. He enjoys Walt’s traditional service, theatrical stories, sticky pastries. But there’s something economical about Dana’s coffee, about the shop itself. About her. Where Bean is honest, and old-fashioned, warm and homely. Bloom forces you to think, to study, to understand.

Missy has left for the day and Dana looks about ready to drop. “Can I interest you in dinner?” It’s a risk, but he’s all about jumping in head first.

“Logically, I should say no,” she says. But she doesn’t. She follows him to the Wan Loy’s and they sit in the corner eating dumplings with chopsticks. 

“Why coffee?”

“There’s an art to it.”

“I thought you were all about science?”

“There’s a science to it too,” she says, sipping her wine. There’s a blush on her cheeks that sets his nerves tingling. “For instance, did you know that calcium and magnesium dissolve as charged particles in water? Most of the flavour compounds in coffee are negatively charged when dissolved in water, which means they are attracted to the positively charged metal ions.”

“Opposites attract,” he says. “Interesting theory.”

“You have another theory?” She does air quotes and he pours her more wine. Oh yes, he thinks. He has plenty more theories.


End file.
